M&A activity down but dollar value up: PwC

PwC Canada says there were fewer merger and acquisition deals in Canada last year but their dollar value climbed to the highest level since the market peak in 2007.

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The widely known business consultancy says the value of M&A activity rose 10.5 per cent in 2012 to $210 billion, despite a 9.6 per cent decline in deal volumes.

Overall, there were 2,811 announced M&A transactions in 2012, according to PwC’s latest deals report.

The energy sector was the top targeted industry in Canadian M&A, accounting for 29 per cent of published transaction values.

Next highest was the real estate sector, with 15 per cent of target activity.

In third place, the metals and mining sector represented 11 per cent by value of Canadian M&A target activity.

Foreign acquisitions of Canadian targets accounted for 27 per cent of total M&A activity.

“Looking forward, PwC’s Deals team sees good prospects for sustained growth in the Canadian M&A market thanks to low interest rates, a surplus of cash both on corporate balance sheets and in the hands of pension and private equity funds and plenty of liquidity in the debt market,” the business consultancy stated in its report.